Emma Colburn flattened herself to the gym floor and shimmied her way under a web of red strings. What looked like a game was actually Spy Academy — and Colburn, already a seasoned intelligence agent at 8, was learning how to navigate laser beams.
Colburn, of Bow, says she’s also an expert at operating spy glasses. “My spy name is Mia, and so far, being a spy has been really fun,” said Colburn, who works undercover with her brother, Parker. “We were being fake spies then, but now we're going to be real spies.”
It’s April vacation for New Hampshire’s students this week. While some traveled to see family or spent time with friends, Colburn and about a dozen other kids spent Tuesday at Bow Park and Recreation's Spy Academy. Lesson one was choosing a code name. Eleanor Fecteau, 5, went with Pearl, after a gecko. Evan Hall, 12, chose LeBron, a nod to the basketball great. Iyobosa Osazuwa, one of the instructors, opted for something simple: John.
Nearly every agent-in-training had some spy experience and a real commitment to the profession.
“I love tigers. And tigers are kind of like cat spies,” said 8-year-old Reagan Edson. “So then I kind of wanted to be like a tiger… and I started stalking my mom and dad. And then I said, ‘Oh, look, there's a spy academy. And then I really wanted to go.”
